The Light and the Dark
by AlexandraMarion
Summary: Lena has been put on trial and Edmund is trying to help her but there is a new evil rising in Narnia. A dark threat that could destroy everything and to defeat it the Pevensie's elemental abilities are expanding. Can they defeat this new threat before it is too late? The Four Elements of Narnia - Book 2
1. Chapter 1

A New View

The four kings and queens of Narnia sat in the council rom of Cair Paravel. Although the battle against Lena was only a month ago they were still dealing with the aftermath. The Archenlandians had returned to their own country, the Telmarines remained in Narnia, scattered across the land and Lena was spending most days in the library, often with Edmund, working on her case.

"How's it going with Lena Ed?" Lucy questioned her brother, who had been silent most of the meeting, his mind focusing on other things.

"It's… going, I guess." Edmund replied with a heavy sigh. "She doesn't say much. Spends most of the time in the library reading books. If I'm going to help her I need to understand her, but it's proving to be hard." He sat back in his chair, his exhaustion showing. Lucy leaned forward and put her hand over his.

"Maybe there is no getting through to her." Susan said tentatively, her eyes full of concern for her over-worked brother.

"No!" At this, Edmund sat back up, "I know I can get through to her. It's early days, just let me try!"

"It's ok Ed, keep trying with Lena. I'm sure if anyone can understand her its you," Peter said, watching his brother relax as he spoke.

"Have the scouting groups returned yet Peter?" Lucy asked, changing the subject. Peter frowned, he had wanted to avoid talking about this and Lena at the same time but he couldn't lie to his siblings.

He sighed, "Yes." A long pause as he thought about the news he was about to share.

"The forces we sent to Lena's castle reported that it was completely abandoned, they searched the whole place and found nothing. They could find to evidence of Lena's wand anywhere. It's disappeared." As he uttered these words his siblings let out a joint sigh of despair. Sparks flew off of Susan and there was a slight rumble of the earth. Whilst the two sisters reeled their powers back in Edmund thought about how the case of the missing wand would effect Lena's trial and sank back into his chair once again.

Once the meeting had finished the four siblings went their separate ways. Lucy to the grounds of the castle, Susan to the archery ground, Peter to his study and Edmund went to find Lena. When he found the library empty he headed to her room. When he entered he found her on her bed reading a book, which she abruptly shoved closed and hid underneath her pillow.

"Good afternoon Lena." Edmund addressed the young witch as she got off her bed and approached him.

"Your majesty." she replied curtseying with a sneer on her face. "This isn't our usual meeting time… you miss me?" she retorted.

"Cut it out Lena I'm not in the mood for your games." he snapped back.

Lena's eyes flashed in anger "What's your problem? had a bad day being a king so come to take it out on the witch girl?" she replied curtly. Edmund sighed as he regretted his anger "Sorry Lena. We've just had some bad news that's going to affect the case. Our forces scoured the castle and there was no sign of your wand."

"What?!" Lena exclaimed, a look of panic flashing across her face before she resumed her usually emotionless expression.

"Do you have any idea where it might be?" Edmund asked her.

"The last time I saw it was the same time you did, when your brat of a sister knocked it out my hands when she captured me in those roots in my castle." As she was saying this, she crossed over to the corner of her room to where there was a table with a bowl filled with water in it, for her to wash her face in. She gripped the back of the chair and stared into the water as fear began to rise in her.

"Don't talk about my sister like that!" Edmund shot back. When he got no response he crossed over to her. "Lena? Are you listening to me? If we can't find the wand it won't look good for you. Especially if even you don't know where it is." As he was getting no response from the girl he paused and then gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "Lena?" he tried again. "Are you alright? Look it's not the end of the world. We can still work on your case without the wand… "

"Edmund," Lena said quietly as Edmund continued to talk about their options without hearing her. "Edmund!" she said louder.

"What?" he said, caught off guard by her suddenly raised voice.

"Look at the water," she replied, staring into the bowl. Edmund, confused, looked into the water that Lena couldn't tear her eyes away from. As he stared into the bowl he began to see images forming in the water. He leaned closer as the pictures slowly became clearer, "What in Aslan's mane…" he began but stopped as suddenly the images in the water surrounded them and they were standing in the White Witch's castle.

Edmund looked around at the scene before them. When he realised where they were, fear flooded through him. His childhood room was before them. Wait. That wasn't right. This wasn't his childhood. This was a memory, but not his. He turned to look to his left and saw Lena stood stock still, staring at the room before them. This was her memory. Suddenly Edmund heard a noise and he spun round to see a small figure hunched up on the bed clutching the fur of a young wolf. As Edmund moved forward he noticed the girl was crying. Tears flowed down her face and her hand covered her mouth as if she was trying to stay silent. Suddenly she let out a sob and her eyes filled with fear. Edmund's heart thudded as he watched the girl desperately try to stop crying as footsteps were heard, getting louder and louder. Suddenly the doors to the room flew open and standing there was the White Witch. Edmund stumbled back to where Lena was standing as the woman who had tortured him entered the room.

"What is going on?" he muttered to himself. Lena beside him had yet to move and was watching the scene unfold.

"Lena!" the shout of her name coming from the White Witch's mouth made old and young Lena flinch with fear, and the wolf, who Edmund had realised was Aaron, growl. At the noise from the wolf the witch's piercing gaze turned to the animal and she lifted her wand. Aaron immediately became quiet as young Lena stood up before her mother. When she wasn't curled up on her bed, Edmund could see her more clearly and could tell that the girl was only 3 or 4 years old. He flinched, as her mother looked away from the wolf and turned her wand to Lena. Edmund remembered being on the receiving end of the wand and remembered the fear that came with it. 4-year-old Lena looked up at her mother "Please don't hurt him. I promise I'll be quiet." The White Witch's icy stare bore into her daughter and noticed her tear stained cheeks.

"Have you been crying you pathetic child?" she asked Lena, disgust in her voice. "I don't know how you're my daughter, you're weak and useless!" With every word present day Lena seemed to flinch a bit more whilst her child self stood completely still staring right back up at her mother and the wand that was still pointed at her. The two stared at each other for a second before the Witch turned on her heels and left the room. As soon as she had gone the girl collapsed to the floor breathing a massive sigh of relief and curled into a ball hugging herself. Edmund stood still not sure what to do or say. Lena however, finally moved from where she stood, towards her younger self. She crouched down in front of the child and her eyes filled with tears.

"Lena?" Edmund approached the girl tentatively. She looked up at him the tears in her eyes burning with anger.

"What did you do?! GET US OUT OF HERE NOW!" as she screamed those last words, the scene around them fell away and suddenly they were back in Lena's room in Cair Paravel, with Edmund's hand still on her shoulder. Lena jerked away from him.

"GET OUT!" she yelled. Edmund hesitated, he had no idea what had just happened but one look at Lena told him that she was extremely shaken by it. Without saying a word he left the room and Lena collapsed to the floor, the tears of anger running silently down her cheeks.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Lucy and Jay were sparring in the outdoor training grounds, the two were pacing back and forth, dodging, parrying and striking with deadly speed and skill. Lucy had managed to disarm Jay and he was improvising by using his shield to defend himself from Lucy's swords. With a burst of energy he thrust his shield forward sending Lucy stumbling backwards as she lost her grip on her swords. Jay smirked at her, seemingly weapon-less but she just grinned back and took out her precious dagger from her belt and charged towards Jay. With a flying kick she managed to throw his shield from his hands so he was utterly defenceless. He stumbled back as she threw her dagger at him, knowing that it would just miss his ear, but suddenly Jay's ankle twisted beneath him and he began to fall to the ground. Lucy watched the scene in slow motion as Jay fell and her dagger spun through the air heading straight towards him. Her mind was racing as she flashed back to Jay bleeding on the floor of the Witch's castle. She had to do something but to stop the dagger she needed speed, the speed of a cheetah if she was ever going to make it in time. As this thought raced through her head she suddenly felt energy flow into her and before she realised what was happening she found herself suddenly face to face with Jay as she caught the dagger with one hand and steadied him with the other. Jay's face was one of pure shock.

"Lucy what, what just happened? You, you were on the other side of the field, how did you…?!" He trailed off speechless as Lucy suddenly seemed to realise where she was and her eyes focused on Jay. As she came to her senses she flung her arms around him relieved to see him uninjured. As Jay returned the hug gripping onto her tightly she tried to make sense of what had just happened. She pulled away from him and looked around, "How… how did I get here?" she asked, turning to look at where her short swords were lying on the other side of the training ground. "You… you ran…" Jay replied, "faster than I've ever seen anyone move… how did you do it?"

"I… I don't know, I just knew I had to get to you, it's all I was thinking about. I just wished for-"

"For what?" Jay asked, placing his hand on her cheek and turning her face to his.

"The speed of a cheetah." Lucy whispered, frowning as she did so.

"What?" Jay replied, his eyes full of confusion. There was a pause for a moment when Jay suddenly spoke up.

"Remember when you were having your training with the dryads?" he asked her.

"Yes," Lucy replied, "but what's that got to do with anything?"

"You told me that you and your sibling's powers were to do with each of the four elements and yours was Earth. You used to sit on the grass for hours trying to connect with your powers, to learn more about them. Maybe, this is connected to your powers, why don't you try it."

Lucy's eyes lit up and she pulled Jay towards her and kissed him. "Jay you're a genius!" she said as she pulled away. "I learnt more about my powers in that time than in my training altogether, it's a brilliant idea!" Jay grinned at her as she sat cross-legged on the grass and he took a place opposite her. Lucy closed her eyes and breathed deeply, she allowed her mind to focus on the earth, where her powers came from, from the roots of the trees to the tip of their trunks, it was all under her control. But then a new image flashed before her, a cheetah, running as fast it could and as it did so she felt its speed flow through her, then a hawk soaring through the skies its eyes finding the smallest details of the land below it, a wolf, whose ears picked up any movement for miles. Each of these attributes she could feel within her and she knew that Aslan had allowed her powers to grow and adapt. But this thought filled her with worry, surely if her powers were advancing this meant that there was a threat coming and as this thought crossed her mind the images she was seeing changed. She was looking at Narnia from a birds-eye-view, but something was wrong and as she looked at her beloved country she saw a darkness spreading across it. The trees were dying, birds were dropping from the skies, crops were withering away and her vision began to darken until it was completely pitch black. She forced herself to open her eyes to see Jay in front of her but she still couldn't see anything just the darkness, threatening to consume her. With all the power she could muster she screamed and a burst of energy came out of her rippling the earth all around the training ground. Finally she could see again, as she saw Jay crouching in front of her grabbing her hands, calling her name again and again.

"Something's coming…" she whispered and then the world fell away and the darkness swarmed in as she collapsed to the ground.

* * *

Edmund was striding through the halls of Cair Paravel his mind racing, heart pounding. He had no idea what had just happened but he was sure that it was Lena he had seen in the vision and it seemed to be a memory, her memory. How could he have seen someone else's memories? He headed for the study where he knew Peter would be and wasn't surprised to find Susan there when he entered. The two were the best in the family at handling diplomats from other lands and often worked together on foreign issues.

"Ed? What is it?" Peter asked, on seeing his distressed face. Susan looked up concerned as she noticed the worry on her brother's face.

"Ed?" she questioned. Edmund said nothing but collapsed in a chair. "What's happened?" Susan continued, moving closer to him. Edmund paused for a bit before trying to find the words to describe what he'd just experienced.

"I… I went to go talk to Lena… and then the strangest thing happened… I don't know how to explain it…" he trailed off struggling to put a sentence together. Susan reached out towards her brother to place a comforting hand on his arm, as she did so there was a spark that seemed to jump from Edmund's skin to hers and raced up her arm leaving a fiery trail on her skin.

"Susan?!" both Edmund and Peter exclaimed jumping up in alarm as the spark ran up her neck and disappeared, Susan gasping as she did so. She turned towards Edmund and slowly opened her mouth to speak. "You're… worried but not for yourself… for Lena. I, I can feel it. I can feel your stress and your anxiety about the case, I can feel your worry, your confusion, all of it…" She trailed off as both her brothers stared at her in disbelief. "Su, what are you talking about?" Peter asked, looking at Edmund for an explanation. Edmund looked as shocked as he was. "How… how did you know I worry for Lena?" he questioned Susan.

"I… I don't-" Susan was interrupted by a frantic knock on the door of the study and before anyone could answer the door opened to reveal Mr Tumnus. "Your Majesties, I apologise but something has happened to Lucy, you'd better come quickly, he turned to lead to Kings and Queen to their sister but suddenly he froze. Susan and Edmund who had rushed to him as soon as they'd heard their sisters name stopped and stared at him. "Mr Tumnus?" Susan said, waving her hand in front of his face. Edmund started in disbelief at the scene before him, "What in the name of Aslan is going on?" he murmured. He turned to Peter who was stood completely still in the study.

"Pete?"

"I think… it's me. I'm doing that" Peter replied.

"What? How?" Edmund questioned, as he looked back and fourth between the faun and his brother.

"I don't know. As soon as he mentioned Lucy a fear took hold of me and I just wanted everything to stop… and then, he did."

"We have to get to Lucy," Susan commanded, drawing herself out of her shock, "something is clearly going on and we have to figure out what it is."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three - New Bonds Rising

Lena was pacing her room, she couldn't bring herself to stop. If she stopped she would have to think about what had happened with Edmund and the scene from her childhood that they had both witnessed. Her childhood was not a time of her life she liked to dwell on. She had fed off the anger from it for years. The anger at the way her mother treated, the anger she had felt trapped in the castle, never allowed outside and she had channelled that anger into her magic. Suddenly Lena sat down on her bed as she felt all the anger taking over her body and not just the anger but the memories with it. Her mother striking her after she had stood up for Aaron. Her first friend, a dwarf slave of her mothers who used to bring her extra food and tell her stories, being turned to stone. Aaron falling to the floor, an arrow in his chest. When she used anger for her magic she tried to not think about the memories they came from, pushing them deep down inside her, but the memory she had seen with Edmund had brought everything rushing back. She breathed shakily and her whole body shook with her. She tried to calm herself down but images of her mother kept flashing in front of her. Her mother striking her, hitting her, yelling at her, threatening her. Her mother's voice echoed inside her head,

"Leeennnaaa" her mother's voice hissed. Lena looked around wildly, the voice had sounded so real, as if her mother was in the room with her. No. That wasn't possible, her mother was dead. Aslan himself had killed her. Lena desperately tried to control her breathing to calm herself down. Slowly she sank down to the floor of her room her head clutched in her hands.

* * *

Peter, Susan and Edmund arrived at Lucy's room breathless and burst through the doors to find their sister unconscious in her bed with Jay sitting at her side clutching her hand. At the sound of them entering Jay jumped up from his seat in an attempt to explain what had happened. Peter and Edmund immediately glared at him looking for an explanation whilst Susan rushed to Lucy's side.

"What's happened?!"

"What did you do?"

"Is she alright?" They all asked over the top of each other.

Jay, slightly intimated by the two kings ferocious looks was lost for words for a few seconds before starting to explain what had happened.

"We were sparring outside, Lucy threw her dagger at me and I fell and then she moved faster than I'd ever seen her move, faster than I'd seen anyone move. One moment she was over on the other side of the field and the next she was standing in front of me and she'd caught the dagger before it hit me. We had no idea what was happening but we figured it was something to do with her powers so she decided to connect to them through the meditation method the dryads taught her…" he trailed off not sure how to describe what happened next.

"None of this explains why our sister is now lying there unconscious Jay!" yelled Peter the air starting to whistle around them as his anxiety increased

"Right sorry," Jay replied hastily continuing, "Lucy was just sitting on the grass her eyes closed and then she just… started screaming. I tried to get her to open her eyes but it was like she couldn't hear me. I tried to shake her awake but nothing happened and then the earth around me started to move so I yelled louder until she finally opened her eyes and then she collapsed." As he was remembering the events Jay drifted closer to Lucy's side and Peter and Edmund softened their glares, realising how terrified he was.

"What's going on?" Lucy had woken up whilst Jay was explaining what had happened and everyone in the room immediately rushed to her side. Lucy sat up slowly coming to her senses.

"Lucy are you alright?" Susan asked, helping her to sit up.

Lucy frowned, "My powers… something's happening… I don't know…"

"It's alright Lu" Peter said, noticing his sister's confusion as she remembered what had happened in the training ground, "It's not just you, all of our powers have been changing."

"I saw something… something dark, something threatening Narnia…. Something's coming…" she whispered remembering the flashes of darkness she had seen in her vision.

Her siblings quickly described what had happened with their own powers and as Lucy listened to their stories, she began to gain some clarity of what was happening.

"Before I collapsed I had a vision of what was happening with my powers, they were advancing, changing, adapting. I think it must have something to do with the darkness I saw. I think it's a vision from Aslan, warning us that something's coming."

"But why wouldn't he just tell us himself?" Susan questioned.

"No one's seen him since the battle" Edmund replied, "Obviously we have to deal with this one ourselves."

"But we've no idea what this is." Susan said, her brow furrowed with worry. They had just had a battle that had pushed them all to their limits, the last thing she wanted for her family was another one.

Before anyone could think about what to do next, there was a knock at the door and Mr Tumnus entered. When seeing Lucy awake and looking much better he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Lucy thank goodness you're alright, I was so worried." Lucy smiled at her old friend and stood to take his hands,

"I'm fine Mr Tumnus don't worry. Are you ok?" she questioned seeing that he clearly had something else on his mind.

"I came to get King Edmund, something is happening with Lena…" as he spoke Edmund had paled, in all the madness he hadn't had time to think about how the memory might have effected her. He took off as fast as he could, heading towards Lena's room.

"Ed?!" Peter yelled, running after him.

"Pete!" Susan yelled after him, when he didn't come back she sighed, "What in Aslan's mane is going on?" She turned to Lucy, "I'm going to check on the boys Lu, you should get some rest." With that, she ran out of the room after her brothers. Lucy, determined not to be left behind started to follow her siblings. But was stopped by Jay grabbing her hand, "Lucy! Where are you going you need to rest!"

She looked at him and placed a reassuring hand on his, "I'm fine don't worry but I need to check on Ed ok?" She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and rushed out of the room.

* * *

As she ran out of the room she could feel her strength coming back to her and as she made her way through the corridor the walls started to blur past her as her speed increased. She turned into the corridor that had Lena's room and could see her siblings gathered outside the door. In a split second she was standing next to them and they turned to her, their faces pictures of shock at the speed she had displayed.

"What?" Peter gasped at the sudden appearance of their sister.

Lucy, barely even gasping for breath gained her bearings and smiled at her siblings, "Told you something was going on with my powers." She looked at the scene in front of her, Susan and Peter were still staring at her but Edmund was standing in front of the door, desperately knocking, trying to get Lena's attention. When there was no answer he decided to take action,

"Lena?! I'm coming in!" His siblings exchanged worried glances as Edmund pushed open the door and the four of them entered the room. As the door opened Lena looked up at the four people entering the room, she was curled up on the floor in the corner, shaking. As soon Edmund saw her he went to move towards where she was but when she realised who was coming towards her she screamed "NO!" Her cry was so piercing and distressed that Edmund immediately stopped in his tracks. The four sibling looked at each other unsure what to do. Susan stepped forward and, with no yells from Lena crouched down next to her.

"It's ok," she said reaching out to touch Lena's arm, "we just want to help." As soon as Susan's hand made contact with Lena's skin a spark of fire flashed and ran up Susan's arm and neck where it then disappeared. Lena was shocked back to her senses and immediately went into attack mode.

She glared at Susan "What was that?!" she yelled.

Susan, who was thrown off from her powers and the emotions she was feeling that weren't hers struggled to respond and Lena lashed out at her, throwing her to the ground. Peter, Edmund and Lucy were immediately on guard, drawing their weapons.

"Lena…" Edmund began as she stood up from the floor, her eyes flashing with anger as they focused on him.

"You…" she snarled.

Before he could do anything she grabbed the item nearest to her, the washbasin, across the room with deadly aim and it hit Edmund in the face and he stumbled backwards. She grabbed the next item, a jug and flung it across the room at the remaining two siblings. With animal like reflexes, Lucy dodged out the way but tripped over Edmund who had started to get up from the floor and both of them went flying. The jug, having missed Lucy went straight towards Peter who put his hands up to defend himself and the jug froze in mid air. Lena looked around at the chaos of the room. Susan had recovered and was attempting to stand, Edmund and Lucy were tangled in a pile on the floor and Peter was struggling to keep his powers under control with his worry for his siblings.

"Lena…" he managed through gritted teeth, "please calm down, you're making things worse for yourself and we just want to help you."

Lena took a big breath and slowly came back to her senses and realised what was happening. She raised her hands in surrender.

"I'm sorry," she replied, "I'm fine really I had…. a moment of weakness"

Peter looked at Edmund who confirmed that he could trust her and let the jug fall to the floor as his siblings picked themselves up.

"It looks like you guys are having issues with your powers," Lena began. The Pevensies looked at her with mixed emotions of confusion, curiosity and suspicion.

"I think I can help."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four – A New Teacher

"But why would she want to help you?" Jay questioned Lucy, a concerned look spread across his face. He had been wary of Lena ever since they had brought her back to the castle. Her wolf had nearly killed him after all. He was impressed at the Pevensie's open hearts. He had seen the torment Lena had put them all through, particularly Lucy, and he didn't want that to happen again, especially when they had only just discovered their feelings for each other.

Lucy glanced over to the other side of field where Lena was being led onto the training ground by two guards and her three siblings stood waiting for her.

"I don't know Jay… maybe she wants to change. Edward seems to believe she can and I trust him."

"But how can you trust her?"

"Because Aslan said she deserves a second chance and there is no one I trust more than him." she said, her voice hard, daring Jay to question her love for the great lion.

Jay sighed, "If you believe in her then I do as well. I trust _you _more than anyone, you know that, I just don't want anything to happen to you." Lucy smiled gently and pulled him in for a quick kiss, "I can look after myself" she whispered in his ear before running over to her siblings. Jay smiled to himself as she ran off, if there was anything he knew about Lucy, it was that she was completely capable of looking after herself, he had trained her after all.

"I'm not sure about this Pete" Susan whispered to her brother as Lena headed towards them.

"I know Su, but Ed said that Lena grew up reading books about the deep magic and we know how powerful she is. She's probably the only one who can help us, our powers are going to get out of control otherwise."

"Do we need help though? We have no idea what this threat is, or if there even is one."

"Lucy's pretty sure, and she's never wrong about this sort of thing and Edmund seems to believe that Lena can help."

At this Susan looked over towards Edmund. He hadn't spoken much about what happened between himself and Lena, only that his powers had allowed him to see a memory of hers that involved her mother. She shuddered at the thought of their old enemy. She had barely had any interaction with the witch, but she had witnessed her murdering Aslan on the stone table and that encounter was enough. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like to have her as a mother.

She pulled herself out of her thoughts as Lucy joined them from where she had been standing with Jay. Lena approached them with the two guards either side of her, her hands shackled. There was silence for a moment as the four siblings stood in front of Lena, unsure where to start.

"Well?" Lena said to them, "Don't just stand there, show me what you can do."

* * *

The Pevensies seemed to jump to attention as Lena spoke and each one of them closed their eyes and concentrated.

Lena frowned, confused as to why they weren't doing anything but before she could say anything each king and queen disappeared in a column of fire, water, earth and wind, each appearing in a different corner of the battle field. She raised her eyebrows, she had seen the three elder monarchs teleport during their battle but they had clearly been practicing and Lucy had followed in their footsteps.

In the four corners of the field the Pevensies drew their weapons and began to run a battle drill.

The training ground was a flurry of action, Lucy was throwing daggers at Peter, who was turning them around with his air powers and sending them flying back towards her. She dropped to the ground and rolled forward to avoid them, as her hands touched the ground vines began to come out of the earth around her and headed towards her eldest brother. She looked up, a grin on her face as her vines wrapped themselves around Peter's feet, rooting him to the ground. However, before she could disarm her brother she was shoved to the ground by a blast of water from Edmund. She jumped back up and ran towards her brother, drawing her swords and the two engaged in a ferocious sword battle.

During this time Peter had freed himself and gave a cry of excitement as he finally cut through the last vine. His victory didn't last long though, as an arrow from Susan narrowly avoided his ear. He ran towards his sister but was quickly stopped by a wall of fire she had thrown up in front of her. He glared at his sister who had nearly singed his eyebrows off and summoned a gust of wind to fly him over the fire wall, cutting Susan's arrows out of the air as he flew back down towards her on the other side of the wall. He landed only a few feet away from his sister and with a few kicks and sword slashes managed to disarm her and pin her to the ground.

There was a cry of victory from the other side of the field as a sopping wet Lucy disarmed Edmund and had one sword pointed at his throat, the other she held up next to her head, daring him to make a move.

Panting with exhaustion, the four siblings made their way back to Lena who had watched the fight with a neutral expression on her face.

"Well?" Lucy questioned, her eyes bright from the battle.

"You call that fighting?" Lena replied, raising her eyebrows at the four siblings. The guards placed their hands on their weapons, shocked that anyone would speak to the Kings and Queens in such a way.

"Excuse me?" Susan exclaimed, rather put off at Lena's reaction to their training.

"I mean, your combat skills are exceptional, there's no denying that" Lena continued, ignoring Susan, "but you've clearly not been taught how to properly use your powers."

"The dryads showed us how to control them!" Peter retorted, starting to think that maybe Edmund was wrong about Lena as she snorted at his response.

"The dryads may have taught you how to control your powers but they didn't teach you how to fight with them. All of you used your powers as a defence tactic, not an offensive one and none of you used your new powers. You stuck with what you knew, using weapons as your main weapon and not making effective use of your strongest asset."

The Pevensie siblings stood there speechless as they realised that everything Lena had said was true.

* * *

The next few hours flew by as Lena taught each sibling how to use their powers in an offensive power and how to take advantage of their new powers. Peter and Lucy were the only two who's powers had taken on a new active role and seeing as Lena didn't have much experience with passive powers and seemed to want to spend as little time with Edmund as possible recommended a few books that he and Susan might consult and that they could help each other to understand the other's powers. She taught Peter to focus, so that he could freeze an attacker with one hand and take part in swordplay with another. She taught Lucy to use the strengths of animals she had never even considered would be useful. The hearing of the wolf, the eyes of an eagle and the speed of a cheetah were one of the few things that allowed Lucy to become an ever greater force in battle, sensing the moves her opponent was going to make barely before they knew.

At the end of the session each sibling was exhausted and they thanked Lena before going their separate ways. Edmund hung back, waiting for his siblings to leave before he approached Lena and motioned for her guards to take a step back. Her expression gave away nothing as she looked at him with steely eyes.

"Lena… I'm sorry. I should never have… I didn't know that was going to happen…. I didn't mean to…" he struggled to find the right words as Lena stared at him.

"Please say something." There was a pause before she spoke.

"I've had a new idea about the case if you want to go over it in the library with me?" she asked coolly. Edmund breathed a sigh of relief, "I'd be glad to, I'll meet you there in a bit, I just need to get changed."

He walked away from Lena a spring in his step. He had been worried that the memory he'd seen would cause Lena to never want to work with him again. The memory had made him understand her so much more and he realised just how similar their individual suffering had been. He was going to help however he could.

When Edmund arrived at the library he entered to find Lena nose deep in a book. She barely moved her eyes away from the pages when he entered,

'I'll be with you in a moment, I just need to look into something.' Edmund gave a small smile to himself at the informal way she addressed him. She had done it to all the Kings and Queens on the training field and any other monarch would be offended, but the casualness made him feel like he was back in England, where no one knew he was a King and some even bullied him. Not that he enjoyed being bullied, or that he didn't love being king, but once in a while it was nice to have something to remind himself of home. Realising Lena was going to be a while he decided to look into one of the books she had recommended to him to help him understand his powers. The book was one, not about magic, but about the mind and how memory worked as part of the brain. It was extremely informative and he started to get a grasp on how he could operate his powers. He was so deep into the book he had almost forgotten Lena was there so when she closed the book she was reading with a loud slam he jumped and was ripped out of the world of memory sciences. Now that she had closed the book, Edmund could get a look at the cover and recognised the book as one on the influences of dark magic. He wasn't sure what Lena was up to but he was sure she had a plan.

"What happened before…" Lena began and Edmund opened his mouth to apologise for the 100th time but she glared at him and he stayed quiet.

"What happened before, will NEVER happen again." There was a short pause where she glared at Edmund once again as if her eyes had the power to shut him up, which worked as he sat silent waiting for her to continue.

"But," she began tentatively, "it gave me an idea. My mother was, well you saw, but more than being a terrible mother, she was surrounded by an aurora of dark magic, mainly given off by that staff of hers." Both she and Edmund shuddered at the memory of the staff that had threatened to turn them both to stone multiple times and a flash of understanding passed between them at the acknowledgment of the things they had experienced at totally separate times but both still felt the effect of them today. Lena placed her hand on top of the book she had been reading,

"I think this can help us win my case."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five - Losing Control

Peter was strolling through the apple orchard, the place where, for him, this had all begun. He made his way to a quiet spot and plucked a few apples from the trees there. Placing them on the ground he sat down in front of them and began to focus. He conjured up a wind that lifted the apples high into the air and then, when he felt they were high enough he let the wind drop and the apples flew towards the ground. He watched them fall until they were about three feet from the earth and then he stretched out his hand, completely focused on the falling fruit and froze all three of them in mid-air. He repeated this exercise multiple times until it gradually became easier and required less and less concentration. Finally he ended his practice, he didn't want to waste all his energy and he had other things to do today. For a moment he stayed where he was on the ground, breathing in the air around him, feeling it move, he sighed. He was thinking about everything that was going on. Lena, their new powers, this terrible thing that Lucy had foreseen. He frowned, his eyebrows knitted together in frustration, there was something he was missing, some connection he wasn't making. Before he could follow his train of thoughts any further a voice called out through the apple trees.

"You Highness?" he sighed, a King's work was never done.

"Over here!" he called. Oreius entered the clearing, he was starting to grey and the lines around his eyes were made even more prominent from the look of worry that was plastered all over his face.

"What is it?" Peter said immediately, scrambling up from the grass and dusting himself off.

"We've had word of a group of dwarves rising up across villages in the north."

"What?!" Peter exclaimed.

"They are being led by a red dwarf who goes by the name of Loran. We believe he was at the battle between our forces and those of the White Witch's daughter which he clearly survived."

"Where is Lena now?" Peter questioned, his voice dangerously quiet.

"I believe she is in the library with King Edmund."

"Right ok, would you please fetch my siblings and Lena and ask them to meet me in the council room?" Oreius nodded and cantered off leaving Peter to make his own way back to the castle.

* * *

Edmund and Lena were the last to arrive and they entered the council room to find a stoic Peter and confused looks from Susan and Lucy.

"Hello Pete, what's all this about? We've been making some headway on Lena's case if you want to hear how that's proceeding?" Peter ignored him, instead he focused on Lena, an angry glint in his eyes.

"You," he growled. Lena took a step back, taken aback by the sudden anger from the oldest king. "We trusted you, we brought you into our home, we let you help us with our training, we tried to help you and this is how you repay us?!" Lena's face was a picture of confusion,

"I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about," she said coolly, staring right back at Peter. This only made him angrier and before anyone could act he had unsheathed his sword and was pointing it at her.

"LIAR!" he yelled, the air in the room started to whip around them.

"Peter what the devil are you doing?!" yelled Edmund, an uneasy hand on his sword. Susan and Lucy looked in shock at their brother who had yet to take his eyes of Lena. The girl in question was staring down the end of the sword, refusing to seem intimidated.

"Did you or did you not have a dwarf under your service named Loran?" Peter asked through gritted teeth. Lena frowned bewildered, this was not where she thought this had been going.

"Yes? But what's that got to do with-?"

"Quiet!" he shouted cutting her off. Edmund had had enough.

"Peter calm down and put the sword away," he said quietly.

"Peter," said Susan, her voice unusually stern, "put the sword down and tell us what's going on." Peter paused for a moment taking in the situation and then sheathed his sword but refused to take his eyes off Lena. "Now, tell us what's happening and what it's got to do with Lena." Susan continued.

"There are dwarves rising up to the north and they are being led by a dwarf named Loran who was under her command!" The other three siblings turned to Lena for an explanation, Edmund looked slightly as if he had been punched in the gut.

"Loran was under my service," Lena began, Peter gave a grunt of victory but a look from Susan shut him up, "but I haven't seen him since the battle, in fact I believed he had been killed by your troops. I certainly haven't been giving him instructions to start a dwarf rebellion, nor did I leave him instructions to start a rebellion in the event of my death or capture."

Edmund gave a triumphant look at Peter, "There you go! Whatever this Loran is up to it's obviously not Lena's doing." At this Lena give a slightly startled look of surprise at Edmund but it left her face before nearly anyone noticed.

"And how do we know she's telling the truth?!" Peter demanded, "She's the White Witch's daughter she can't be trusted!" At this, Lena's eyes turned cold and there was a dangerous shine to them. "As I believe I have told you before, I am nothing like my mother. You trusted me to help you train. You trusted me enough to put me on trial rather than just kill me like my mother was killed. I didn't put Loran up to this I swear but I see now you're no different than anyone else, you only see my mother and don't trust that a person can change. Why don't you just summon your precious lion so he can kill me because you don't seem to have the guts to, then or now." At these words Peter's hand went straight back to his sword but before he could do anything Lucy stepped between them.

"ENOUGH!" she yelled, giving equal glares at her brother and Lena. "This is ridiculous, Peter why would starting a dwarf uprising help Lena in the slightest? She's about to be put on trial by us, it wouldn't help her at all if she started a rebellion!" Peter faltered and sat down in a chair, scowling. "Lena," said Lucy, turning to the young woman who was staring at the youngest monarch with surprise. "I apologise for my brother's actions, but Loran was under your service, it's only reasonable that he would jump to the conclusion that it was your doing. He tends to act before he thinks sometimes." Lena raised an eyebrow and looked at Peter who was looking down, trying to avoid the accusing stare of his brother.

"If I may," she replied, "there is something we could do that would make you all trust me completely and prove that I had nothing to do with this." She turned to face Susan, "You have the ability to read people's feelings, perhaps even their thoughts, you should really get some practice in," she held out her arm towards her. Susan faltered, "I, I'm not sure. I'm still not quite clear how these new powers work and-"

"Please?" Lena requested. Susan looked around the room at her siblings, the state of Peter made up her mind. He was hunched in his chair, a look of regret in his eyes but she could tell he was still distrusting of Lena. She stepped forward and placed her hand on Lena's, concentrating hard. A spark leaped off Lena's skin and onto Susan's, travelling up her arm and neck before disappearing. She gasped and withdrew her hand. Four faces looked at her as she drew herself up.

"She's telling the truth." Edmund let out a sigh of relief, whilst Peter stood up and left the room, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. Edmund made to go after him but Lucy stopped him, "I'll go," she said, "I'll talk some sense into him don't worry." and she hurried out after her brother.

* * *

Peter was pacing across the grounds his emotions all over the place. He was cursing himself for loosing his temper, his brother wasn't likely to forgive him for accusing Lena anytime soon.

"Peter!" he turned to find Lucy behind him, her arms crossed, a concerned look on her face.

"If you've come to lecture me don't bother, I'll apologise to everyone later I just needed some air." he said shortly, returning to his pacing. Lucy gave a short snort of laughter.

"The High King of Narnia, Peter the Magnificent is worried about being lectured by his baby sister?" she replied, raising her eyebrows. When she saw that her joke wasn't lightening his mood a concerned look came over her face, "I just came to check you were ok," she said gently.

"I'm fine."

"Well you don't seem it… Oh will you stop pacing and talk to me!" At her raised voice Peter sighed and turned once again to face his sister. "Thank you," she said. "Now what is going on? I've never seen you act this way about anything, what has got you so riled up?" Peter gave another sigh and Lucy could see the bags under his eyes from stress and tiredness. Lucy waited patiently, knowing her brother would tell her in his own time. After a few minutes Peter spoke,

"I think it's all this uncertainty. These new powers, Lena, this vision you had I just don't like it. No one knows what's coming and I can't protect anyone if I don't know what I'm protecting them from. I promised Mum all those years ago that I'd look after you all and I just feel like I have no control. I'm the High King of Narnia for Aslan's sake I should be able to protect my people!" Once he had finished it was like a weight lifting slightly from his shoulders, he hadn't realised how much this had been weighing on his mind, a constant underlying worry that he couldn't shake. Lucy sighed and took his hands,

"Pete it's ok, the whole kingdom is not your responsibility, that's why there's four of us. I know it's scary but Su, Ed and I, we can protect ourselves and the kingdom with you, it's not all your responsibility." Peter said nothing but simply stared at the ground, a bit lost for words. "This is why you lashed out at Lena" Lucy said slowly, her brain connecting the dots between her brother's erratic behaviour and what he had just told her. "She's a thing that you can't control and you don't know enough about her to know what she's going to do." Peter looked at his sister in shock and Lucy realised she'd hit the nail on the head.

"Oh Pete!" she exclaimed and pulled him into a hug. "No one can control everything. You just have to have faith in Edmund and Susan and me. You have to have faith in Aslan, He knows what he's doing. Us four, we watch out for each other, we back each other up and we can always rely on each other. You don't have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders." Peter pulled back from the hug and looked at Lucy.

"When did you become so wise?" he asked smiling at her. Lucy scoffed, "Susan's the wise one, not me. I'm just here to remind you how _Magnificent_ you are." She stretched out the word 'magnificent' sarcastically, clearly teasing him as she poked him in the ribs.

"That's High King Peter the Magnificent to you!" he retorted, returning the poke. Lucy gave a light laugh and ran towards the trees as Peter took after her, a grin appearing on his face. Lucy ran through the trees until she found a wide one to crouch behind. She bent down and peered round the tree to see if Peter was close by but he was nowhere in sight. Grinning, she sat down and waited for her big brother to catch up. She looked down at the ground and the grin left her face. There was a spiral of darkened earth at her feet with dark veins stretching out from it. The spiral led deeper into the forest and Lucy stood and began to follow it, the further into the forest she went the wider the areas of blackened earth became.

"Lucy?" Peter had finally caught up with her and found her in a clearing staring at the blackened earth in fear. She looked pale as she bent towards it.

"What on earth?" Peter muttered. Lucy ignored him and reached her hands towards the blackened earth.

"Lu no don't touch it!" Too late, Lucy's hand connected with the earth and black veins began to run up her arm, through her neck, onto her face until her eyes had filled with darkness. She gasped as the dark veins took over her body.

"It has begun." she rasped before the veins disappeared and her eyes returned to their normal shade of blue./p


End file.
